Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	The Lost Years of Merlin
	Author:	Barron, T. A.
	Date Published:	1996
	Genre:	Fantasy
	Grade Level:	6 - 12
	Booktalker:	Sam Marsh

Booktalk:
We have all heard of Merlin, the mysterious, captivating wizard of Camelot. But, we know little of his younger years, nor how he came to gain the powers he so casually employed in his Camelot days. TA Barron attempts to answer that question with his series about Merlin’s formative years. In the first book, The Lost Years of Merlin, Emrys is washed up by the sea at age 7 with no memory, and raised by Branwen in the village of Caer Vedwyd. After five years of taunting by the village boys, Emrys incurs their ire when he defends a Jew whom the others are harassing. The youths retaliate by dragging Branwen towards a fire to burn her as a witch. In fear and desperation, Emrys uses his fledgling powers to crack a tree limb, which falls on the ringleader, Dinatius, pinning him to the ground. The fire catches in the limbs of the branch threatening Dinatius. Emrys saves Branwen, then enters the fire to try to save the village boy. Upon awakening, Emrys to find himself badly burned, and blind. He swears to never again use his powers if his sight is returned. Tended at the Church of Saint Peter by Branwen, he gradually learns to see by use of a mysterious ‘second sight.’ Emrys decides that he must try out his wings alone and is determined to discover his past. Branwen begs him to stay, but Emrys is adamant. Aided only by his second sight, and a mysterious pendant from Branwen called the Galator, Emrys sets off. He sets sail on a self made raft and is carried to the enchanted island of Fincayra, which exists between the earth and the land of the gods. There he saves a merlin hawk, which becomes a somewhat dubious companion. He also meets Rhia, an orphan girl who talks to the trees and animals, and Shim, the pint-sized giant whose bravery outweighs his fear. Emrys also discovers that his fate is entangled with that of Fincayra. Eventually, one of the companions will make the ultimate sacrifice when they are forced to confront the evil Rita Gawr and his henchman Stangmar in the revolving Shrouded Castle. Emrys and Shim will test their true character over the Cauldron of Death, and Emrys will find his true name, Merlin.